Hitachi Center grants

With most graduating students either just done with or still toiling over their Capstone Projects, and with incoming students inquiring about support for research, I thought I would share this notice from last month inviting students to apply for capstone research grants.  I can’t guarantee that this exact opportunity will be available again next year, but students who plan carefully can find sources of support for their research.

The Hitachi Center for Technology and International Affairs at the Fletcher School announces research funding opportunities for Fletcher students.  In accordance with its mission to sponsor research on the role of innovation and technological change, the Hitachi Center seeks to provide funding to advance student research in these fields.

The Center will fund student research projects for current capstones, or research that will be conducted over the summer of 2015 that leads to future capstones, on the role of technology in international affairs.

Research proposals that focus on the following areas will be given priority:

• Technology and economic development, in particular ICT4D
• Technology and agriculture, the environment, education, financial services, health, human security, democracy, security and terrorism
• Global technology industries
• “Next Generation” Infrastructure: Global trends in the evolution of social infrastructure (infrastructure that supports migration of data/information across platforms, and dependability)

Students must be enrolled in a degree program at The Fletcher School and plan to spend the summer of 2015 engaged in research for a graduate program capstone project, dissertation or the equivalent.  Priority will be given to: 1) projects that are the most closely related to the Center’s areas of interest; and 2) are related to capstone research.  In addition, grantees should be willing to write up a brief summary and do a poster presentation of their research by October 2015, to be shared with the Hitachi Center Board.

Students interesting in applying for this funding should provide:

• A research proposal of no more than three pages
• A timeline of the summer research plan
• A proposed budget (including any other expected or potential sources of funding)
• A letter of support from a faculty capstone project advisor